Chapter 11 The Kidnapped Bride
After taking a shower, Xie Liang couldn't wait to send a message to Xiao Ha, asking him if the pattern on his chest was related to the Vortex Gate.
After Xiao Ha's explanation, Xie Liang realized that this was the mark given to them by the Vortex Gate - every descender has this pattern on their body, and only the descenders can see it.
Xie Liang then asked Xu He and Li Dong.
Xu He's explanation was similar to Xiao Ha's; Li Dong reacted slowly and said: If Xie Liang hadn't told him, he wouldn't have known that he had an extra pattern on his body.
Xie Liang has been addicted to mobile games these days and plans to have a meal with Xiao Ha and the others after the anniversary celebration of the mobile game.
I'll ask them about the Vortex Gate later. It's only been a few days, so there's still plenty of time.
Three or four days passed like this, and when Xie Liang was about to make an appointment with them today, he suddenly felt very dizzy.
He remembered Xiao Ha saying that it usually took about ten days to enter the next small world. Now that only a few days had passed, he didn't think his dizziness had anything to do with the vortex gate.
He planned to go to the toilet first and then go to the hospital to see what was going on. Just as he was squatting in the toilet, the dizziness became more intense, and after a dizzying moment, he fainted.
When Xie Liang woke up, he rubbed his eyes and his willpower returned instantly. He was startled and quickly touched his buttocks with both hands - luckily, he was wearing pants! Who would have thought that he would travel through time while squatting in the toilet...
Xie Liang stood up and began to observe the temporary place where he was staying.
There were about a dozen people lying and standing on the ground, and everyone was waking up one after another.
The crowd included both new and old people. Some cried loudly, some said nothing, and some broke down and roared.
The temporary stay this time looks like the deck of a ship, painted with red paint, much of which has been worn off, revealing the original color of the wooden boards, which look old and quite old.
This time, the word "sacrifice" appeared next to the vortex gate.
Xie Liang walked around the temporary land and didn't see anyone from the previous small world. He couldn't help but wonder: Am I the only one who descended this time? Or did everyone descend into a different small world?
Two Adventers who claimed to be old players were organizing everyone to gather. Xie Liang followed the crowd and walked towards them.
After a while, the blue waves of the vortex gate surged, and the gate was opened and people could go in.
Under the woman's arrangement, everyone lined up in an orderly manner to enter the vortex gate.
This time, there were a lot of people descending, about thirty of them. Although Xie Liang had experienced a dungeon before, this was the first time he had seen so many people.
A few people who didn't believe in the superstition tried to get in like crazy, but when they realized they couldn't get through the wind wall of the temporary shelter, they had no choice but to compromise and follow the majority into the door.
Xie Liang touched the flute in his trouser pocket and remembered that he had taken it out to study it before, and then put it in his trouser pocket when he went to the toilet.
He followed the crowd holding the flute and stepped into the blue vortex door.
When Xie Liang stood firm and opened his eyes again, he found that he was indeed standing on the deck of a steamship.
He heard noisy voices and looked around to find that they came from the bustling crowd on the shore. They were wearing red ribbons and looked like they were sending off a bride.
Except for the leading woman, the other descenders stood on the deck in a daze, watching the village chief directing the villagers to load boxes of things onto the ship.
The people who were sending the bride off were crowded on the sandy ground on the shore. Some of them had blank expressions, some had heavy faces, and a few were crying softly.
The bride's sedan chair stopped at the front of the shore, and the sea breeze blew the red bead curtain of the sedan chair.
Xie Liang's gaze suddenly paused as he passed by the bridal sedan. Through the gaps in the beaded curtain lifted by the sea breeze, he saw that the bride's hands were tied and hanging on her legs. Looking down, he saw that her feet were also tied tightly with yellow hemp rope.
At this time, an old lady in purple patterned clothes came up on the deck, led by the village chief. She stood on the deck and said to the people who came:
"You are the ones invited by the village chief to bring the bride, right? You must send the bride safely to the Island of Rebirth." After the old lady said this, her green bean-like eyes rolled around as she examined the many people who came.
The leading woman among the Adventers stepped forward and politely asked the old lady, "How many days will it take to reach the island?"
The old lady's eyes suddenly became sharp: "In seven days, at dawn, we will be married."
The leading woman pondered for a moment, then asked, "Don't you know what we need to pay attention to? I can tell them to be careful so that they don't ruin the important work."
The old lady snorted, turned around slowly with her hunched body, and walked towards the shore, saying as she walked: "Think about it yourself, just don't miss the wedding!"
Xie Liang couldn't help but said to her: "If you don't tell me clearly, who will know?"
The old lady ignored him and walked away.
"Witch, do you think that man will be attracted to this bride this time?" the village chief asked the old lady in a low voice.
The old lady raised her hand to signal the village chief not to talk nonsense, and soon she was helped off the boat by others.
At this time, all the boxes on the shore had been lifted onto the boat, and the bridal sedan was carried up by the sailors on the boat. They carried the sedan all the way to a cabin on the second floor.
Soon, the sailors on the boat began to work together to raise the anchor, and the villagers who had been carrying their belongings also disembarked and returned to the shore. Everyone standing on the shore watched the ship about to set sail.
This ship appears to have three floors. The second floor on the deck should be used for living, and the bottom floor should be used to store sundries, coal, and various tools needed for sailing.
The two leaders among the Adventers were a woman named Shi Xiaoyin and a man named Lu Baixing.
Under the woman's instructions, everyone entered the ship's hall, where four or five dining tables and many chairs were placed.
On both sides of the corridor at the back were cabins, each housing four people. Shi Xiaoyin asked everyone to form their own teams, with men and women separated, while the rest of the group stayed together in one cabin.
Xie Liang was the unlucky guy who had no one to team up with, so he had to live with two men.
They probably saw him as a bit thin and frail, and as a man, though handsome, he seemed useless. Anyway, no one invited him to join a team, so he was left alone.
The remaining two men: one has scars all over his face and looks a little scary, his name is Hu Bing; the other one is dull and doesn't look very smart, his name is Luo Bo.
After Xie Liang had tidied up his bunk, a bell rang from the front hall.
“Ding! Ding!”
The bell rang two or three times and then stopped. People came out of the boat room one after another and walked towards the hall.
"Xie Liang, do you want to go together and see what's going on?" Hu Bing said and pulled Luo Bo out of the boathouse.
Xie Liang responded and followed them to the front hall.
The ship's hall was full of people; it was time for dinner.
Everyone stood for a while and then sat down one after another. Xie Liang found a seat next to Hu Bing and Luo Bo.
Lu Baixing was speaking loudly in the hall, and everyone was looking at him in confusion.
"Shi Xiaoyin and I are both members of the Dark Organization. We've already experienced three small worlds. While we're not veterans, we're definitely not newbies. You may not believe it, but I'm sure you also know that these things can no longer be explained by science!"
Lu Baixing paused for a moment, then continued, "Just before you came in, on the deck at the entrance to the hall, there was a couple who, unbelievably believing, thought they could return to their original world by jumping off the deck. Hand in hand, they jumped off the deck, seeking their own death."
"I hope you won't do such foolish things and cherish your lives. Those who are capable are welcome to join the Dark Organization! Finally, I wish you all good luck!"
After Lu Baixing finished speaking, he returned to his seat and started talking with Shi Xiaoyin.
After hearing this, everyone in the hall looked confused and lowered their heads to discuss.
The food was prepared by the eight sailors, who brought it to the table one after another. It was all fish.
After the dishes were served, the sailors sat around a table. There was no rice on the table, only raw fish. They devoured the fishy-looking raw fish in big mouthfuls.
None of the adventers touched the food on the table. Most of them sat in their seats in a daze with confused looks on their faces.
After a while, Lu Baixing stood up and said, "Everyone, let's get started. It's dangerous at night. Eat well and go back to rest."
After Lu Baixing finished speaking, everyone picked up their chopsticks and ate without any taste. Most people ate the yellowed rice, and only a few people ate the fish that looked extremely unpalatable and half-cooked.
Xie Liang's gaze shifted to the table of eight sailors. They were staring at the people who had eaten fish, intentionally or unintentionally, with creepy smiles on their faces.
Xie Liang ate a few mouthfuls of rice and returned to his bed - it was an upper bunk next to the window, and when he opened the window he could see the endless black sea.
The kidnapped bride, the strange sailors, and the word "sacrifice"—could this be a sacrifice, with the bride as a sacrifice? Xie Liang pondered this for a short while before drifting off to sleep in bed, only awakened by the return of Hu Bing and Luo Bo.
Seeing Xie Liang wake up, Hu Bing said, "Xie Liang, you came back early, you probably don't know what Shi Xiaoyin said."
He paused and continued, "She said that the small world is full of unknown dangers. We need to explore and carry out missions, but we also need to protect ourselves. She also said not to walk around at night."
"Also, Lu Baixing said that the door will only appear after we complete the mission. What do you think our mission is?"
After listening to this, Xie Liang sat up from the bed and said, "Shi Xiaoyin is right. We must protect ourselves first. From what we can see so far, our group was arranged by the village chief to escort the bride. Based on the word 'sacrifice' in front of the door, we can't deduce anything."
"Brother... Carrot knows...knows. 'Ji' can be a sacrifice, a ceremony, or a memorial..." Carrot said as if thinking seriously.
Xie Liang saw that he was able to express himself clearly and felt that his IQ should be fine, completely dispelling his previous preconceived notions.
Hu Bing seemed to have noticed something was wrong with him and explained, "Luo Bo was born with a difficult birth, so he has some sequelae. But apart from the muscle weakness in his hands and the stuttering, he's the same as a normal person in every other way."
"Yeah, I understand."
Xie Liang looked at the surging waves outside the window and suddenly remembered the fish on the table during dinner. He asked the two of them, "Those fish on the table at dinner looked weird. Did you eat them?"
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